David Menzies can be an annoying guy, especially if you are the target of his journalism. Think Sam Donaldson or Mike Wallace, only conservative. He is a bulldog, and unlike those two, he doesn’t pretend he has an opinion.
He fits into the gonzo journalist school. He’s not the guy who asks polite questions at a press conference hoping to get in good with the establishment; he’s the one asking questions as you try to avoid him.
In a Democracy, public figures have to deal with reporters like Menzies, which is good.
HUGE WIN: Prosecutor throws out Toronto police charges against David Menzies
Rebel News reporter David Menzies was arrested by Toronto police while trying to ask anti-Israel protesters questions in a public space.https://t.co/VsAEtkeN2U
— Rebel News USA (@RebelNews_USA) May 22, 2024
Menzies reports for Canada’s Rebel News, which really took off during the trucker protests—at least that is when I first heard of them. Rebel News would have been easy to categorize as a conspiracy theory site prior to COVID–probably unfairly–but over the past few years they look more like one of the few news outlets in Canada that doesn’t give Justin Trudeau a backrub as he comes up with new lies to feed the Canadian people.
If I had to choose between believing a story from the CBC or Rebel News, I would put my money on the latter. They may be openly partisan, but they aren’t liars. The CBC will shill for the government without blinking and without admitting their bias.
Menzies has gotten under the skin of the government, and in true fascist fashion, the Toronto police and the Canadian Mounties have been harassing him. They literally create or invent crimes–on camera even–and drag him through a court process until the charges eventually get dropped.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that the Mountie, a bodyguard, invented a crime to arrest Menzies. You can see on camera that he did and used it as an excuse to rough Menzies up. In another instance, the police allowed a crowd to assault Menzies and then arrested him for “trespassing” in a public square–one where thousands of others were, including the people assaulting him.
Eventually, the charges get dropped, but the point is made: we can hurt you. Cost you money. Steal your time.
We are big, you are small.
Compliance is easier.
Today, another set of charges were dropped against Menzies, with the Crown Prosecutors, who had delayed the hearing for months, admitting that there was no prospect that they could win the case. How could they? There was so much video from so many angles demonstrating that the police were in the wrong and that prosecution was impossible.
oday’s courtroom victory marks the second time this year that charges against David have been dropped — the first time was when Chrystia Freeland’s RCMP bodyguards stepped in David’s way when he was asking her questions, and then falsely claimed he assaulted them. Those charges were dropped almost immediately, as police realized their scheme was caught on video, too.
This leaves one more false arrest for which David still faces legal persecution — when he attended a pro-Israel rally outside Toronto’s city hall and attempted to interview antisemitic gate-crashers shouting bigoted insults.
Bizarrely, police claim David was “trespassing” — on public property. We’ll win that legal battle, too. But that’s the point — it’s a battle.
The point of all this is to harass Menzies and Rebel News because they are a thorn in the side of the establishment–using the massive coercive power and resources of the state.
I never used to like gonzo journalism. It always seemed too crass and confrontational. Can’t we all be civilized?
Yeah, well, apparently not. When your government abuses power daily and the mainstream media works hand in glove to cover it up, you need the rebels. As with Trump, you may not like the way the sausage is made but it tastes better than the artificial meat-like slop made by chemists to deceive your tastebuds.
That the Canadian government would cook up fake charges, invent crimes, and arrest a citizen trying to do legal journalism proves Rebel News’ primary reason for existence is right: the Establishment is corrupt and the MSM covers for them.